The transition between formal Architectural School training to Architectural practice is a crucial learning period in the development of an Architect; the role of the internship is central to this learning process. The current IDP internship program, I believe, acts as a rule against witch to measure a developing architect’s expanding knowledge base in a variety of field specific areas, however the hour by hour segmenting, and detail specific nature of the system in place may be limiting the evolution of architecture practice for our generation.

Certainly each firm operates differently, but I believe a general consistency exists for firms regarding Intern Architects especially those working toward fulfilling their IDP credits. That is, a general trend toward the detail. Though understanding and becoming competent with the many technical aspects of built structure is undoubtedly very important, there are considerable implications as the result of the pre-sorted time allotted category system currently in place. An intern can very easily become so detail orientated that he/she operates only in one realm of thought. It is in this attention to detail necessarily required, that an intern can easily (and in my experience, often does) loose sight of the “Big Picture.”

The Big Picture is what we as Intern Architects have spent 4, 5, 6 or more years of schooling learning how to develop. Such emphasis is put on developing the clarity of an idea and ever questioning its relevance, importance, and its implications. Yet, upon entering the field, especially as an intern, little if any focus is relegated to The Concept. Often, interns are so far removed from the design idea, that when asked to develop a construction detail for any particular aspect of a project, it becomes a lesson in building technology and assembly. The potential for an equally important learning experience (that of seeing the process of how a Concept becomes a Detail) has been greatly diminished. An internship, as I consider it, should truly help a developing architect understand what comes after the idea, and show how to use of an idea carries through to the detailing of the building.

It is a crucial for architects to learn how to adapt and change design ideas as pressures of real-world feasibly, cost, and program dictate. If insight into this process is omitted for the intern, architecture in general can become “stuck in a rut.” Currently the IDP system certainly ensures an emerging architect will be competent with the how of architecture, but for evolution and progress in architecture among all firms, not merely firms of “star architects,” it is equally important to understand the why of architecture and design. To omit the why teaches that the questions of design are secondary to all other issues of architecture. Such an attitude results in many firms
whose designs are grounded in old ideas, old systems, and old representations, where a detail is represented a particular way merely because that is how it was done before. Such philosophies perpetuate stagnant architecture of generations past. To encourage
innovation and progress of design across the board, we must teach interns that the unrelenting importance of the concept does not end at graduation; rather it should inform every decision made thereafter.